The EU has delayed until the 20th December a decision on Ryanair's planned takeover of EI, which was originally scheduled for the 6th; the EU move has apparently been triggered by FR's decision to increase its shareholding to 25%. The airline can still, under Irish takeover rules, increase its holding to 29.9% without having to make another bid.
So, what can the EU do? Well, for a start, it will need to consider the opposition and the likelihood of FR actually being able to take over the airline, as it wishes; with over 46% of shares against it, that will be difficult, so it's hard to argue that competition will be undermined and I can't see FR being asked to axe routes on which both airlines compete, as there is no evidence of collusion or of fares being controlled?
http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/...U-UPDATE-1.XML